REAL AND MEANINGFUL DISCOURSE

Frequent opportunities to communicate thinking and justify responses, often in a collaborative format, help students understand that math isn't a set of discrete skills used to answer simple questions, but a process of reasoning to solve complex problems.

Students construct and communicate viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others in ways that demonstrate reasoning. They also reflect on their work, pose questions, and initiate mathematical discussion orally and in writing.

Teachers consistently expect justification to accompany answers. They regularly provide opportunities for students to talk and write about math, persistently ask questions like ‘why’ and ‘how do you know,’ and refrain from being the sole source of authority for answers or affirmation.

START TODAY

Let students talk about math. Students should be interacting with each other daily, learning from each other as much as they learn from their teacher. Make this a regular part of math class by using "turn and talks" or "pair shares"

Encourage students to write about math. Give your kids time to process their thoughts and make sense of the learning by articulating their thinking and reflecting on their strategy. The Common Core will ask your students to explain and justify answers. Let them practice this daily. This also can be time for students to prepare their thoughts, before being asked to share with the whole class.

In class, constantly have students explain and defend their answers. How does that make sense? Why did you solve it that way? Why do you think that? Prove to us that makes sense. We often ask for more when students answer incorrectly, but this must happen with correct solutions, too. When you ask a student to explain more, they are forced to organize their ideas and reason with the math. This also sets up the class for strong classroom discussion. Does anyone disagree? Did someone solve this a different way? Who can prove to me that _______ is correct? How could we figure out if this would be true every time?

GET YOUR STUDENTS TALKING

Some sample discourse provoking questions:

"Can you explain how you got your answer?"

"Why did you choose that strategy?"

"How do you know your answer is reasonable?"

"Who has a different way to solve the problem?"

"Would someone like to add to that idea?"

Excellent book to build skill. Make sure to order/borrow with the DVD, so you can see K-6 examples.

"Can you explain to me, in your own words, what ___________ just showed us?"

"Why do you agree with that?"

"Why do you disagree?"

"Is this true for all numbers?"

"How can we know for sure?"

"Can you find an example when this doesn't work?"

My definition of a good teacher has changed from “one who explains things so well that students understand” to “one who gets students to explain things so well that they can be understood.